Verse of the Day
Author Spotlight
Loading featured author...
Report Issue
See a formatting issue or error?
Let us know →
A stone is heavy, And sand is a burden; But a fool`s provocation is heavier than both.
Verse Takeaways
1
The Weight of Foolish Anger
The verse compares two physically heavy things, stone and sand, to something even more burdensome: the vexation caused by a fool. Commentators explain this isn't just a poetic flourish; it highlights how emotionally and relationally draining it is to deal with someone's uncontrolled, irrational anger. It's a burden harder to bear than immense physical labor.
See 3 Verse Takeaways
Book Overview
Proverbs
Author
Audience
Composition
Teaching Highlights
Outline
+ 5 more
See Overview
5
18th Century
Presbyterian
Compare Ecclesiasticus 22:15; a similar comparison between the heaviest material burdens and the more intolerable load of unreasoning passion.
19th Century
Anglican
But a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both — that is, harder to bear. (Compare to Sirach 12:15.) The “fool” here (evil)…
Baptist
One might endure almost any sort of labour sooner than have to live with someone who is perpetually and foolishly angry.
Go ad-free and create your own bookmark library
17th Century
Reformed Baptist
A stone [is] heavy, and the sand weighty As was the stone which was at the well's mouth, where Laban's flocks were w…
Those who have no command of their passions, sink under the load.